In-Laws
by waystatus
Summary: AU. Rouge wasn't expecting so much to change after adopting a Chao and raising it as her own. But now the Chao has grown and given birth to an egg. The father is not only a Hero Chao, but his owner is none other than Knuckles the Echidna. This inevitably ties the two of them together. Will they be able to set aside their feud for a baby? How hard do they have to try?


Rouge never imagined in her wildest dreams she'd take on any sort of maternal role. The bat was a treasure hunter, a thief dubbed by those not keen on her abilities. A beautiful jewel set off a fire in her heart like nothing else ever could. The hobby was one of true excitement. It was exhilarating, and things like motherhood and intimate relationships would only serve as nuisances in that type of lifestyle. It was something that was simply beyond her limits.

That was what she thought before adopting Jet.

Right now, in a garden hopefully not too far, there was a young black Chao with a minty green spike bouncing above her head. She may have already evolved once, shed her cocoon and emerged as something sinister with a rather naughty personality akin to her owner's alignment. But she was lovable, smart, adventurous in a devious sort of way, and had an addicting company about her. Rouge couldn't have been more proud of the Chao she'd become. It felt as if it were only yesterday she'd adopted the newborn from a shelter and taken her in as her own. She named the young child Jet, given her dark complexion and lustrous exterior, which was what had initially caught the treasure-enthusiast's interest. Jet had long made a home in Rouge's heart. She was thought of as more than a pet. She was a daughter, and she was lovely. Rouge considered herself lucky, and the past few years they spent together had really brought about a side of her she didn't know existed. She'd become _nurturing._

Except for now, when her tired eyes were scanning the clock and narrowing after an accompanied dinging reverberated all throughout the quaint living room. It was now midnight, and all she wanted to do was knock the aforementioned Chao into a coma for taking so long to return.

"Honestly, Jet," Rouge yawned, slumping back in her chair. "I give you a foot, you take a mile."

Indeed, she was beginning to regret giving the young Chao an extended curfew. Even if it was just this one time. She wasn't sure why she'd allowed Jet a little extra time in the outside world, since clearly she'd made the mistake of trusting her judgement. The Chao made a sporadic request, and her owner, without much question, sporadically obliged. As long as she wasn't participating in underground pinball tournaments, there wasn't much else she could be in trouble for, right?

Worry hadn't yet kicked in, but it would soon follow through if she wasn't at the door in ten minutes' time.

Rouge looked atrocious, and Jet was the only one who ever saw her this way. She wore a lavender bath robe, her makeup having been washed away and hair left unkempt due to lack of proper grooming. She'd tried reading a book and watching television to make the clock go faster. But not even marathoning Keeping Up with the Kangaroos could ease her anxious mind. That's how serious this was.

Finally, after an eternity and a half had crawled by in a snail-like fashion, the small door flew open, and behind it, Jet hovered into the room swiftly, carried by her own webbed wings, as if it were like any other night. Though suspiciously enough, she seemed to be avoiding eye contact with her mother. Jet immediately shut the door behind her and scuffled off in some unknown direction.

"There you are!" Rouge jumped up, her slippers slapping across the floor as she marched over to the Chao in question. Jet paused mid-step, her mouth falling open and exposing a blue tongue.

"Where in the world were you? We agreed you'd be back by eleven!"

Normally, Jet would meet Rouge's scolding with a bit of sass, not unlike a typical teenager. But this time was different. She seemed a bit frantic. Her eyes softened and she bit her bottom lip.

"Chao chao..."

"Losing track of time is not a valid excuse, missy!" Rouge steamed, pointing a finger down to the small creature's level. "You're lucky I like you. I don't take kindly to people worrying me the way you do!"

Jet nodded stiffly, before making an attempt to fly past the bat and head for bed. It was too late for her, however, because Rouge happened to notice the Chao carrying an oddly bulbous bag off to the side of her wings. It was something she was obviously trying to hide.

"Oh, bring a souvenir with you?" Rouge spat with annoyance, not understanding the figurative weight of the bag's contents. Jet's inverted blue eyes widened. She tried to zip to another room as quickly as possible, but Rouge realized her intent right away and caught her by the tail. Jet yelped in terror before defeatedly floating to the ground.

"What are you trying to sneak away with?"

It was a rhetorical question. Jet tried to object with very weak, unintelligible explanations that all sort of criss-crossed given she was under such immense pressure. But she seemed reluctant to actually take back the sack when her mother confiscated it. She held her patterned paws forward in protest.

"Chao!"

Rouge had already slipped a hand inside the bag, feeling for whatever was inside. Suddenly, after a smooth and heated surface met her fingers, she stilled completely.

"Jet..."

Carefully, she pulled the no so secret-secret out of the burlap's depths. In her hand was a spotted Chao egg.

Silence before the storm. The Chao's thin jesters flattened as she awaited Rouge's shouting. After all, how could she not? She'd gone out for one night, and came back with an egg. _Her_ egg. It was like a drama you'd find on cable.

But instead, Rouge remained quiet. Her eye twitched.

"Jet..._please_ tell me you're just holding this for a friend..."

Jet's eyes fell. If she had thumbs she would twiddle them. "Chao..."

"Tonight?" Rouge asked, dumbfounded. "This is yours, and you made it _tonight?"_

Jet swallowed and nodded.

Still, Rouge had yet to unload the hell that was surely brewing beneath all the calm. She turned the egg over in her hands, careful as it was incredibly fragile. Even with her gloves still on, it felt incredibly warm. "Jet...how could you do this?" she asked. "What were you thinking?"

For the first time that night, Jet showcased a bit of her frustration by stomping a single foot. "Chao!"

"What do you mean you're not a kid anymore?!" the bat demanded. "You're still in _kindergarten!"_

"Chao chao chao!"

"I don't care if educations' different for Chao, it's still wrong! You're in school, you're not a fully developed adult yet...you're still learning new things! Like...how to play castanets! I bet my ass you won't learn how to play castanets now! How can you move forward with...with _this_ holding you back?!" she gestured to the egg. "And more importantly, who's the father?!"

At this, Jet fell silent. Her mouth pursed and she began hugging herself, obviously nervous. Rouge cocked a brow before averting her attention back to the embryo in her grasp.

"It couldn't possibly be a Jewel Chao like yourself. I can tell by the outside," Rouge noted aloud, trying not to sound bitter with the knowledge that this offspring would not be purebred. "Is it a classmate? A friend? I would hope it's a friend at the very least. Have I met him?"

To all her questions, Jet merely shook her head. She refused to give any answers. Maybe she was unsure how to.

"Well, what's his name?"

Jet sighed. "Chao..."

"Pluto?"

"Chao chao."

"And he's a Hero Chao?"

Jet nodded quietly, while Rouge tapped the edge of her mouth, growling. "So he's a Hero Chao, he's an _ordinary_ Chao, he's named after a planet that's not even good enough to be considered a planet anymore, and I've never met him?" Jet grimaced at every one of her owner's statements, before she tacked on haughtily, "What else do I not know?! You seem to be on a roll with this barrage of bad news!" Jet merely shrugged, muttering under her breath.

"Do you even know who this Pluto's owner is?"

"Chao chao."

"You've met him? That's rich. You know his owner, but he doesn't know me. So you must know his name then. What is it?"

"...Chao."

Rouge nearly dropped the egg once the creature's language registered a word inside her brain. Her eyes panned off to nothing, before she shot forward in a terribly violent outburst. The storm had commenced.

_"KNUCKLES THE ECHIDNA?!"_

* * *

Somewhere farther away on an airborne island, a similar conversation was being held between animal and Chao. Knuckles, guardian of the Master Emerald, had stepped away from his post for only a short while and already he was regretting it. In the background, the Emerald spun, intact and untouched. He made sure not to let anything distract him, not even Pluto, with his extremely heavy confession about what had happened to him that night.

Pluto stared up at him with pleading eyes. His ghostly white skin stood out against the dark of the woods, the teal of his halo set light upon his jesters, leaving them a pale scarlet. He may have not shown up with an egg in tow, but his expression held the same guilt and immense vulnerability since he was delivering the exact same type of news. Perhaps even more so than that of his alleged partner. Despite Pluto's robust body and unmatched strength, he really was a big marshmallow and was easily intimidated by those he knew were superior.

While not enthused by the idea that his Chao would soon be waltzing about with a cooing newborn, (so much for peace and quiet) Knuckles did understand that it was mating season, and Pluto was of age. The two rarely did anything personal together, much less anything reminiscent of father and son being that Knuckles had so much responsibility. But the echidna was quite fond of Pluto, and knew since the day he'd signed the adoption papers that having him would be more of an experience than just occasionally shaking trees and feeding him fallen fruit. He'd expected this would happen at some point in time, so he couldn't really be too upset about it.

"I'll admit I wasn't ready for this to happen so soon," Knuckles sighed out loud, hands on his hips. "One minute I'm teaching you how to walk, then the next you're telling me you're having a kid. Aren't you still technically a kid yourself?"

Pluto danced nervously in place, not giving any straight answer. Knuckles shook his head. "Either way, guess I'll give you credit where credit is due. I didn't think you had it in you. Good job, buddy. Populating the world and all."

At this, the Chao flushed. Knuckles cleared his throat. "So who's the lucky lady?"

Pluto's arms crossed as he looked off to the side, suddenly finding a nearby bush very interesting. "Chao..."

"Jet, huh? What, is she a plane or something?"

Pluto shuddered. Knuckles really was the king of dad jokes, and this situation was no different.

"What's her owner's name?"

Without missing a beat, the tiny creature grumbled a single syllable, and it alone sent Knuckles into a panic.

"...What did you say?"

"Chao." The Chao repeated itself, not aware of how horror-stricken his owner had become. Knuckles was feeling tremors.

"One more time."

_"Chao,"_ Pluto said again. He was growing annoyed.

But at that point, the echidna had already lost consciousness and fainted amongst the brush. With a gasp, Pluto fluttered overhead, shouting his owner's name in hopes he'd recover, only to be answered by very faint breathing and the distant chirping of jungle wildlife.

The last thing Knuckles thought of before everything went black was_ Rouge. _Such a venomous word, and apparently one he wouldn't be escaping any time soon.

He and the bat were going to be in-laws.

Oh boy, here we go.


End file.
